“A POTTED HISTORY OF INVERCARGILL BREWERY”

What began as a hobby for Steve Nally turned into
an all-consuming business that is Invercargill Brewery.
When Steve graduated from Canterbury University with a handy
degree in chemistry, his OE took him to Europe where he ended up playing rugby
for Epernay in France – on Moet’s home turf.
On returning to Invercargill in the mid 90’s, the
call of the brew was strong on Steve’s life and he found himself touring abandoned
orchards to fill a trailer with ground-bruised fruit to try his hand at cider. Eventually
the bug took over. In 1999 Steve leased a disused diary shed in Oteramika Road
on the outskirts of the city and set up business, having built most of the
plant himself with the aid of his father Gerry.
Invercargill Brewery’s first brew
– IBS – has since been superseded by a popular pale ale called
Stanley Green as a tribute to Lance Corporal Stanley Green was Steve’s maternal
grandfather who survived Dunkirk only to die in a training accident in Scotland
in 1942.
In 2005 the brewery outgrew the old blue dairy
shed and moved to the former Kiwi Bacon factory at 8 Wood Street in
downtown Invercargill. By 2012 that too had become too small.
Staff started each working day by moving equipment onto the footpath.
Finally, in December 2013, Invercargill Brewery made the move to 72
Leet Street where the story continues in a beautifully remodelled Wilson Bros
Fabrication Shop.
At 46.41 degrees South it's still a long way shy of the world’s Southern-most brewery but they accept we’re a little off the beaten track. If you're in the neighborhood pop by for a visit - you won’t be disappointed